Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Kentengi Anchorage.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack port facilities and warehouses and Swatow, and mount anti-shipping strikes in the South China Sea.

Air Operations, Europe

• 266 aircraft are sent to Leverkusen. Included in this total are 170 Halifaxes, 86 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups.
• Failures of equipment prevents most of the Oboe marking to be carried out and other Pathfinder are unable to mark the target accurately because of bad weather conditions. As a result, the bombs are scattered over a wide area mostly north of Leverkusen. 27 towns record bomb hits, Leverkusen reports only 1 bomb hit in the town.
• 4 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling are lost.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Duisburg, 2 to Rheinhausen, 25 aircraft lay mines off the Biscay ports and there are 11 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.
• Many of the aircraft returning from operations encounter fog conditions on reaching England and 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling crash, but 4 Halifaxes of No. 35 Squadron lands safely at Graveley when the first operational use is made of the oil-burning fog dispersal equipment called FIDO (Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation), which had been installed at Graveley airfield. Several other airfields will soon be fitted with this useful device.

Air Operations, Gilberts

• 30 VII Bomber Command B-24s join US warships in the bombardment of Japanese positions in Tarawa and Makin atolls, and on Nauru Island. Task Group 50.4 carrier aircraft attack Nauru, Task Group 50.3 carrier aircraft attack Tarawa Atoll with 69 tons of bombs, and Task Group 50.2 carrier aircraft attack Makin Atoll.
• A VF-9 F6F downs 1 G4M 'Betty' bomber near Tarawa Atoll at 0550 hours. 4 VF-2 F6Fs down 1 E8N 'Dave' reconnaissance seaplane near Makin Atoll at 0830 hours. 4 VF-22 F6Fs 1 'Betty' at sea at 0830 hours. 1 VF-60 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 0945 hours. 1 VF-18 F6F downs 1 'Betty' near Tarawa Atoll at 1040 hours. 2 VF-9 F6Fs down 1 'Betty' at sea at 1455 hours. VF-23 F6Fs down 2 A6M Zeros over Nauru at 1555 hours.

Air Operations, Marshalls

Task Group 50.1 carrier aircraft attack the Mille airfield and flying boats and floatplane fighters moored in the Jaluit Atoll.

Air Operations, New Guinea

Approximately 30 V Bomber Command B-25s and B-26s attack Japanese Army ground positions around Sattelberg. 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Finschhafen.

Air Operations, Solomons

10 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Ballale airfield and Matchin Bay.

Battle of the Atlantic

2 3,000-ton freighters, the British Penolver and the American De Lisle, sink within 17 minutes of each other after striking mines off St John's, Newfoundland. 14 crewmen of the British ship are picked up by the US vessel and then rescued again, establishing a dubious record of having survived 2 ship sinkings within half an hour.

Central Pacific

US carrier aircraft raid Mili, Tarawa, Makin and Nauru in preparation for the coming landings. Four carrier groups are involved from Adm Pownall's Task Force 50 which includes 11 carriers, 4 battleships and 6 cruisers.

China

In the siege of Changteh the Chinese 57th Div defends the city against superior Japanese forces until December 3. Only 300 Chinese survive.

Eastern Front

The Germans move in to take Zhitomir as the Soviets realize their danger and retreat.

Italy

The Germans withdraw the last of their forces north of the Sangro. Although 8th Army also has troops north of the Sangro they hold only very little ground and a major, formal attack will be necessary to expand their tiny enclaves.

Mediterranean

The British submarine Simoon sinks in the Dardanelles Approach, probably on a mine, with the loss of the entire crew of 48.

Pacific

The US submarine Sculpin (SS-191) is sunk by destroyer gunfire in the Central Pacific area.

Scenes from November 19, 1943

USS Robalo (SS-273) underway near Panama, November 19, 1943.

USS Robalo (SS-273)

Winston Churchill inspecting air raid damage in the dockyard area of Valletta, Malta, 19 November 1943.

Churchill Inspecting Damage on Malta

RAF truck with a special mount to transport the heavy P-47 Thunderbolt through the streets near Liverpool on November 19,1943

RAF Truck Transporting a P-47

Kiwi soldiers sightseeing in Pietra, Italy, pictured with Italian children, 19 November 1943

New Zealand Soldiers with Italian Children

Panther tanks of the Leibstandarte Division, part XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, assemble near the town of Fastiv in mid November 1943, which at that time was located on the left flank of the Soviet incursion into the German lines, to provide the heavy armoured punch for the counteroffensive being planned by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein.

Panther Tanks Near Fastiv

SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Tigers and stuck truck MAN ML4500 in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, November 1943.

Tigers in the Mud near Vinnitsa